Staple fastener



Sept. 8, 1970 J. D. LANGWELL STAPLE FASTENER Filed April 29, 1968 INVENTOR. JOHN D. LANGWELL ATTORNEYS United States Patent US. Cl. 281-25 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A staple fastener constituted as a continuous length of material with three spaced portions clinched to the back surface of a backing member, the middle portion being a loop extending parallel to one of the other portions and in a direction opposite thereto and perpendicular to a bridge joining the loop and said one portion. The bridge lies against the front surface of the backing member. The remaining clinched portion of the fastener is joined to the loop by another loop which is disposed at the front of the backing member and serves to hold a stack of sheets against the backing member.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to an assembly of a backing member and a staple fastener. The staple fastener may serve to hold a stack of sheets on the backing member and thus form a pad from which the sheets can be individually removed by being torn from the staple fastener.

Description of the prior art SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the invention is to provide a staple fastener which is secured to a backing member in a novel way in order to permanently anchor the staple to the backing member.

The staple fastener may be utilized for many different functions, among which may be mentioned the securing of a stack of sheets on the backing member to form a pad wherefrom the sheets can be individually removable by being torn from the staple fastener. The staple may also be employed as a reinforcement for a folded backing member in order to maintain the fold line of the backing member.

In accordance with the invention, the staple fastener is characterized by the provision of first and second legs joined by a bridge, the legs being clinched to the back surface of a backing member and extending perpendicularly to the bridge and in opposite directions. One of the legs is a loop having one branch connected to the bridge and the other branch connected to a portion passing through the backing member and extending beyond the front surfaec of the backing member. This latter portion may also be a loop which is adapted for passing through a stack of sheets to hold the sheets against the backing member and thereby form a pad. For this purpose this latter loop may have a leg clinched to the back surface of the backing member. Instead of being a loop, said latter portion may have other shapes for various purposes such as for supporting different types of articles.

The bridge is characterized by including a portion extending above the front sufrace of the backing member and another portion extending in contact with the front surface. This enhances the local pressure of the bridge on the backing member and improves the anchoring of the fastener while also the raised portion of the bridge can be held when the legs are bent away from the bridge and clinched against the back surface of the backing member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bank of staple fasteners according to the invention, for use in a stapling machine or gun;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a pad partially broken away to show the mounting of a staple fastener of )FIG. 1 to a backing member;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a modification of the arrangement in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In FIG. 1 of the drawing are shown a bank of staples 1 for use in a stapling machine or gun. Each staple is constituted as a continuous length of material which may be of circular or square cross-section. The staple includes a leg 2, a bridge 3 connected to a leg 2 and to a branch 4:: of a loop 4, the other branch 4b of loop 4 merging into a second loop 5.

In FIG. 2 the staple is shown installed on a backing member 10 constituted of cardboard, or the like, to secure a stack of sheets 11 to the backing member and thereby form a pad from which the sheets can be individually removed by being torn from the loop 5 of the staple. It is to be understood that one or more staples may be utilized to secure the stack of sheets to the backing member although only one is shown in FIG. 2. Generally two staples are used at one end of the stack of sheets.

In pads with conventional loop staples, the removal of sheets from the pad exerts forces on the staples which tend to loosen the staples and eventually separate them from the backing member. Moreover, after a number of sheets have been removed, the legs of the staple are free to axially displace in the backing member, which hastens the enlargement of the openings in the backing member accommodating the legs and the early detachment of the staple from the backing member.

According to the invention, the staple is attached to the backing member in a novel way which insures the anchoring of the staple to the backing member.

Referring to FIG. 2, it is seen that the leg 2 and the loop 4 are clinched to the back surface of the backing member such that they extend perpendicular to bridge 3 in opposite directions. This greatly stabilizes the attachment of the staple to the backing member by resisting any tendency of the staple to move out of its own plane. Thus any tendency of the staple to pivot about a line passing through the points where the backing member is pierced by the staple (corresponding approximately to section line 33 in FIG. 2) is counteracted by the bearing of the leg 2 and the loop 4 against the back surface of the backing member. Since the forces applied to the staple upon removal of the sheets act to pivot the staple out of its plane, the presence of leg 2 and loop 4 are of great importance in maintaining the anchoring of the staple to the backing member.

The bridge 3 has a central portion 3a in contact with the front surface of the backing member and end portions 31) which are raised above the front surface. This produces a local concentrated pressure on the backing member at 3a which aids in the tightness of the attachment of the staple to the backing member and it also permits the portions 3b to be held when the leg 2 and loop 4 are bent laterally and clinched against the back surface of member 10.

The loop 5 in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 serves to hold the sheets 11 and for this purpose the loop 5 pierces the backing member and a leg 6 of the loop 5 is clinched to the back surface of member 10. The leg 6 extends in alignment with bridge 3.

In effect, the loop 5 serves as a utilization means for supporting a stack of sheets against backing member 10. However, the loop 5 may also serve to support other articles such as for display purposes, e.g. of earrings, and chain supported jewelry or the like.

Instead of being formed as a loop, portion 5 can assume any form to suit a desired purpose such as to hold wires, small components, or fluid lines in place. Also, portion 5 can be operatively connected to other equipment, as for example by being soldered'to another member, to form a part of an electrical circuit. It is thus evident that in the broad sense, the staple 1 is effective as a means for being secured to a backing member and employed for various uses.

In FIG. 4 is shown a particularly advantageous embodiment according to the invention. Therein, the staple not only serves as a support for the stack of sheets 11, but also as a reinforcement for maintaining backing member 10 in folded condition. In particular, the backing member 10" is folded about fold line 13 and the staple 1 acts to prevent unfolding of the backing member. The loop 4 greatly contributes to the rigid position of the folded backing member and the fold line should lie midway between the branches 4a and 4b of the loop 4. In installation, the staple 4 is driven into a pre-creased backing member and thereafter the backing member is folded along the crease.

The loop 5 may also serve merely as a reinforcement to hold a folded backing member in folded condition, as for example when the backing member is used as a display card or the like. Under such circumstances, the loop 5 can be replaced by a second bridge which will contact the front face of the other flap of the folded backing member. The second bridge will be connected to a leg at its outer end which will be clinched to the back surface of the backing member and extend parallel to leg 2. In this arrangement, the staple will be symmetrical about an axis passing midway between the branches of loop 4. Generally, in order to improve the resistance of the staple to bending out of plane in the above-described embodiments, the loop 4 should be elongated and of a greater length than leg 2. Moreover, this reduces the effort necessary to bend loop 4 and clinch the same against the back surface of the backing member. The length of branches 4a, 4b greatly exceeds the spacing therebetween.

The staple is installed by driving legs 2 and 6 and loop 4 through the backing member simultaneously and laterally bending leg 2 and loop 4 to clinch the same against the back surface of the backing member, While concurrently leg 6 is clinched to the back surface of the backing member. The bridge 3 is held at 3b during the lateral bending of the leg 2 and the loop 4. It is to be understood that the leg 6 of loop 5 passes through a stack of sheets 11 which are placed on the backing member and inserted therewith beneath the staple machine.

Numerous modifications and variations of the disclosed invention will now become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the attached claims. Thus, for example, the backing member could be constituted as a metallic sheet with preformed holes for the passage of the legs 2, 6 and the loop 4.

What is claimed is:

1. An assembly comprising a backing member having front and back surfaces, and a staple fastener secured to said backing member, said staple fastener being constituted as a continuous length of material and including first and second spaced portions extending through said backing member, and a third portion joining said first and secondportions and extending adjacent said front surface of the backing member, said first portion including a leg clinched against the back surface of the backing member, said second portion including a loop clinched against the back surface of the backing member, said leg and loop extending perpendicular to said third portion and in opposite directions at the back surface of the backing member, said third portion including a first part raised from the front surface of the backing member to enable clinching of said loop and the leg of said first portion against the back surface of the backing member, and a second part which is in contact with the front surface of the backing member, said loop including first and second branches, said staple fastener including a fourth portion of loop form in continuation of the first branch of the loop and extending above the front surface of the backing member and adapted for holding a plurality of sheets against the backing member such that the sheets can be individually removed by being torn from said fourth portion while the fastener remains rigidly attached to the backing member by at least said first, second and third portions, said second branch of the loop being connected to said third portion.

2. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said fourth portion includes a leg spaced from said first branch of said loop, said leg of the fourth portion including a part clinched against the back surface of the backing member.

3. An assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein said part of the leg of the fourth portion which is clinched against the back surface of the backing member extends in alignment with said third portion.

4. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said backing member has a fold line bisecting said loop.

5. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said third portion has a generally V-shape with a central region constituting said second part in contact with the front surface of the backing member, and end parts raised from said front surface and constituting said first part.

6. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said loop includes first and second branches and has an elongated shape in which the length of the branches substantially exceeds the spacing therebetween.

7. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said loop has a greater length than said leg.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 210,482 12/1878 Andren. 1,654,371 12/1927 Goodstein. 2,857,735 10/ 1958 Mashl -49 X 2,906,547 9/1959 Bortner 28125 3,377,904 4/ 1968 Olson 8549 X FOREIGN PATENTS 20,126 1907 Great Britain. 690,446 4/ 1953 Great Britain.

JEROME SCHNALL, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

